


Scientific Endeavors

by TheGoldenGhost



Category: Vingt mille lieues sous les mers | Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea - Jules Verne
Genre: I love the guy but I don't find his voice all that easy to capture so bear with me, I love this ship though, I thought it was a few weeks in but it could be as early as one week, M/M, also I totally don't remember when in the book the first hunt was and I'm too lazy to look it up, also this is my first time writing Ned, and if so... well they fell for each other quickly, mild sexual content but nothing graphic, mostly implied - Freeform, stressful situations will do that, that's all folks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-10
Updated: 2019-09-10
Packaged: 2020-10-13 18:36:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20587148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheGoldenGhost/pseuds/TheGoldenGhost
Summary: Ned and Conseil pass the time before supper with idle conversation, among other things.





	Scientific Endeavors

“So,” Ned and Conseil were lying on their respective beds in their cabin, staring up at the moon through their window and waiting for supper, which was late in arriving. Both were tired, but neither wanted to go to sleep without eating.

“I’ve already told you everything there is to tell,” Conseil said. And it was true. He’d explained to Ned in detail the events of the day’s hunt – the electric bullets used to kill prey on sight, the rich gardens of kelp, the way the waves looked on the sea floor. The albatross. The sharks.

Well. He’d left out the part where the shark had closed in and Jukka had approached Conseil, lying next to him in a protective maneuver. Conseil had appreciated having a guard and not being made into shark food, but he had been unable to shake the feeling that he’d wished Ned had been there with him instead.

He didn’t see much point in telling Ned this, though. The harpooner knew how Conseil felt and by some strange mercy, felt the same. Or at least. Said he did. And acted upon it, too, when the mood struck, and it did so often these days.

It was for this reason Conseil wasn’t sure why Ned was in such a terrible rush to leave. He knew Ned was bored, frustrated, and humiliated at being taken prisoner by a man they didn’t know and couldn’t trust – but even if the sea held little captivation for Ned, Conseil wondered why he didn’t consider the fact that they would never be able to continue their… personal adventures, back on land.

Ned would return to Canada, and Conseil would return to Paris, and that would be that. They would communicate only through letters, and those dwindling further and further until there was nothing but silence between them. Silence and memories.

Because of this, as much as for the prospect of scientific marvels, Conseil couldn’t help but have a few misgivings about leaving. But, he supposed, if Ned hated it so much down here, and if he loved Ned… it was his duty to aid him in escape and let him live his life.

He just hoped the harpooner wouldn’t forget him so quickly.

“This is dull,” Ned said, breaking Conseil’s meditation. “Is that really all you did down there? You were gone all day.”

“We saw a _shark_ up close. I’m sorry if I’m not making it sound as thrilling as it was. Maybe next time, you ought to come with us! Then you might have less to complain about.”

“I would’ve gone,” Ned grunted. “I mean, I would’ve given anything for a good land hunt, but a sea one? It’s not proper hunting. And I tell you another thing; you wouldn’t catch me going out into the deep, vulnerable and without ready aid, alongside that bloody captain.”

“Nemo did nothing to harm us,” Conseil said calmly. He knew Ned’s feelings towards Captain Nemo swung between casual mistrust and utter despising, but Conseil had reserved his judgement towards the Captain. He did not think Nemo was a good man, but he also didn’t picture him to be the sort of monster who would lure men into the ocean and murder them in cold blood.

“Not this time he didn’t,” Ned said, but apparently he’d already grown tired of talking about the Captain. “And the professor is still enchanted by him?”

“Unfortunately.”

“I’d like to shake some sense into that one,” Ned snorted. “Ah, Conseil! You say he’s had a great many men, why _that_ one?”

“Monsieur is taken by men of great intellect, with a broad range of skill. The captain fits this mold very well. But you may take comfort, Ned – none of his escapades last very long. It won’t be more than a few months before he grows tired of following an unattainable man.”

Ned smiled. “And what sort of men are you taken by?”

Conseil straightened up on his bed. “I think you know that very well, my friend.” He didn’t need to say anything else, because Ned got up too, coming over to Conseil’s bed and pulling him into his arms, burying his face against Conseil’s neck.

“You tickle,” Conseil commented, instinctively wrapping his arms around Ned’s shoulders. Indeed, Ned’s beard made for a strange and rough sensation. “And suppose George comes in and sees?”

“George can learn how to knock,” Ned replied. George was their steward, and as he had never spoken a word to either of them, they didn’t know his name, and had dubbed him George. Some of the men had spoken to Conseil, introducing themselves – René, Jukka – but most remained a mystery.

Conseil couldn’t disagree, and this was a much better way to pass the time than just lying about talking of nothing but trouble. So he let himself be kissed, and he kissed in return, and he marveled at just how easily it all came to him – him, Conseil, who had never loved a man before, was not even aware he was capable of it, until Ned.

Until Ned…

Maybe it was just that he’d never really kept company with the sailors. When they went on voyages, he and the professor, it was always Aronnax who made friends with the seamen. Conseil remained quiet – not shy, but reserved and withdrawn. He had been placed with Ned more by happenstance and necessity and, though he was no great believer in fate, could come to see how one believed in it.

“Shall we practice science?” Ned asked, and Conseil snorted with laughter. When they had first begun these bouts of intimacy Conseil had been uncharacteristically nervous, and Ned had told him quite plainly to come at it as he would with any scientific discovery. Since then it had become a joke between them.

However, they hadn’t really gotten comfortable when some five or ten minutes later the sharp, polite knock came at the door, signaling that George had arrived. Ned cursed gently under his breath, pressing his forehead to Conseil’s for a moment in a gesture of lighthearted fondness before the knock came again and they both started to laugh.

“Shall I scare him away?” Ned teased.

“Oh, don’t. You can skip supper if you like but I’m hungry and I want to see what George has for us today.”

“Ah, all right,” Ned replied. “Since you’re so at the mercy of your stomach.”

“As if you never are,” Conseil retorted. “Go on; let’s open the door for our friend. And when we’re done, perhaps we can resort to some more scientific discovery before bed.”

Ned grinned, straightened his clothes, and went to greet George. Conseil leaned back against the headboard. Yes, it was a strange life, this pseudo-prison. Terrifying, and lonely, but in other ways, safer and more content than life on land had been. Confusing, for certain. But Conseil could not deny that there were some things he was going to miss the day they returned to shore.


End file.
